Coaf, Brazil’s federal money laundering enforcement agency, produced a record 16,411 financial intelligence reports in 2023, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. The numbers were made publicly available by Coaf on its website.
Financial intelligence reports (RIFs) are produced when there’s evidence of money laundering, concealment of assets, or the financing of terrorism and other crimes.
RIFs can be written either spontaneously by Coaf staffers — with their own analysis of suspicious financial transactions — or requested by other authorities.
Banks, real estate companies, jewelry stores, notary offices, and a few other businesses are mandated to inform Coaf of suspicious transactions, as well as any transaction in cash over BRL 30,000 (USD 6,000).
Back in November, a Supreme Court justice issued a ruling that confirmed the validity of reports submitted by Coaf at the request of the police and without a court order, overruling a previous decision by the Superior Court of Justice, Brazil’s second-highest court.
Drug trafficking, fraud, and corruption were the most frequent crimes cited in communications between Coaf and other authorities in 2023.
Coaf reports, which are not made public, are key to major investigations in Brazil. Lawmakers allied with the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration said that Coaf reports show “atypical transactions” in former President Jair Bolsonaro’s personal bank account and a total inflow of more than BRL 17 million (USD 3.4 million) in the first half of 2023.
Last year, Coaf produced 20 RIFs at the request of congressional select committees, but the data does not specify how many — or which panels — requested them. The select committee on the January 8 riots approved eight motions to request reports from Coaf in order to trace the backers of the failed insurrection.
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